FAQ

Questions and Answers about the Aedgar material and the channeling experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers by Dr Janelle Trees

+ What is channeling?

“Channeling” is the nearest word I’ve found yet to describe a process when a person permits other non-physical beings to speak, using her body as an instrument to communicate their supernatural perspective on life and reality.

This ability could also be called mediumship. But most mediums transmit the message they receive with some interpretation of their own. The medium's consciousness and personality is still there, even if she or he is processing and transmitting information the rest of us don’t access.

When the character in this story, Marie, channels, strange as it is, she is not really there at all. She falls into a deep trance. The beings she channels speak in their own right, with no distortion from the channel's thoughts, judgements or opinions.

In other cultures some aspects of this work would lead to a person being called a Shaman, perhaps even an Oracle.

+ What do you mean by deep trance?

A deep trance allows Marie, the channel, to step away while non-physical, 'spirit' beings use her body to communicate with humans. This sounds strange but has been practised by humans of many cultures for millenia.

Marie gets irritated when people talk to her as if she was aware of what was said during channeling. She does not hear it and does not read the transcribed material.

+ Does Marie know what she is saying when she channels? How does this affect her partner and relationships?

No, Marie is unaware of what she says and, as mentioned above, does not like to talk about the content she has channeled.

Marie is a highly-intelligent, forceful and passionate woman. She has a very distinct, opinionated personality and a rich personal history. Insightfully, she does not want her personality to colour the channeled material in any way. She feels that if she is aware of, or conversant with the material, there could be a risk to the purity of the work.

This decision makes her an excellent channel, but it comes at a cost.

It puts a strain on relationships with her partner Nerida, who would like to talk to her about the material she has channeled. Nerida finds the process of Marie's channeling and the material itself life-changing. She is confronted by the idea of a transcendant soul and a reality beyond material existence. Sometimes she is not sure whether it is wise to encourage Marie to continue channeling, but she finds the conversations compelling. She has no one to talk to about it, so she eventually shares the story of Marie's ability with friends and family. Some of her friends abruptly stop speaking to her.

When Marie channels for friends or family, they are excited about conversations with a spirit, and want to talk about what they've discovered after a session. So, Marie leaves the room after the end of a session.

Marie not only gives up hours of her conscious life to do this work, but cultivates and accepts separation from those closest to her in doing so. She has no way of knowing the value or otherwise of what she channels, except by observing its effects on others.

She also has to deal with stigma from those who do not accept or want to begin to understand what she can do.

+ Who or what is Aedgar?

Aedgar is an ancient spirit who is said to have been involved with this planet, on and off, since its formation. In his last one or two lives on Earth, he took the name Aedgar.

He is non-physical, as we all are when not living in these material bodies.

Aedgar's last lifetime on earth was in Tudor England, when he lived in Bristol. He found true love--for the first time in physical life--with another man, Aiden, in that lifetime.

As a 'spirit' (not a word he likes much) Aedgar is the one channeled by Marie most often. He comes to speak in the majority of channeling sessions, and is present at most of the sessions that she does for other people.

In the early years, when Marie was learning to control her channeling and her partner Nerida was getting to know the beings she channeled, Aedgar seemed to act as a guide and facilitator for the other beings who came to speak.

+ Who or what is Bartgrinn?

Bartgrinn was a Druid healer who lived in Northern Britain in ancient times. In a mind-bending twist, Bartgrinn is an aspect of the same energy that we call Aedgar, but from a different lifetime.

His personality differs and he has other fields of knowledge than Aedgar.

For example, Bartgrinn uses more direct language and is more earthy and emotional than Aedgar, who has a more refined personality.

+ Do the same beings come to every session?

While visits by new beings are always possible, there is a team of regulars. The transcripts on this website illustrate conversations with them. They are Aedgar, M’Hoq Toq and Bartgrinn. Finally, rarely seen but impressive in her feminine style, there is Isis.

The book shows how each of these beings (and a few others) came through to meet Nerida as Marie began to control her channeling, and how Nerida felt as she got to know them. In this sense, it is a 'prequel' for regular readers of the website.

+ How do you say M’Hoq Toq?

The two syllables are quick and short, the vowels are flat, as Americans say them.

It’s a Native American name, and the channel and the facilitator don’t yet have the alphabet to transcribe it properly. If you are Native American and/or familiar with Native American languages and would like to offer an alternative spelling, we would be delighted to hear from you.

M’Hoq Toq has told the facilitator, Nerida, more than once that “It is the easiest of my names”. He offered this name after Nerida had already got one or two other names hopelessly wrong. It is still not pronounced as he would like, but he tolerates the pronounciation.

Originally Nerida transcribed the name as M’Hoq N’Toq. It was also written as M’Hoq Tauk for a while before the current spelling was accepted.

+ Does Isis have anything to do with the religious extremists?

No. If you read transcripts of the conversation with Isis, it is clear that Isis is as far as possible from terrorism.

+ I get the feeling there is more to this. Are these transcripts excerpts from longer conversations? Is there a book?

A book containing complete transcripts is in the works.

The first draft was finished in mid-2018 and has just had its second edit. The time of publication depends on whether the book is traditionally published or self-published.

The book is set in the desert at a remote Aboriginal community. While engaged with the community and living through intense drama, Marie learned to control her channeling and Nerida began to talk to the beings she channels. The main characters in this fiction book are Nerida, Marie and Aedgar.

The excerpts from the conversations with spirit which feature on this website reveal flashes of the wisdom of the beings. But the material here only hints at the narrative power and complexity of the entire conversations, which build on powerful themes, interweaving.

An e-booklet Consciousness is Chosen - The Complete Conversation is now available free to subscribers. It is the transcription of one of these unique conversations, containing questions asked by a woman Marie channeled for.

+ Some of the conversations were first posted years ago, is that right?

Not necessarily. Even though many excerpts here on the website and on the Facebook page are from conversations several years ago, they have may never been posted or published before. Sometimes the backstory is built up from the past to create a fuller, deeper story.

The excerpts are chosen to represent the beings and their conversations as succinctly as possible without sacrificing comprehensibility. The transcripts of entire conversations have not been made available online, but will be in the book (see above).

The only sure way to know what and when is updated here, and to hear about the book when it's ready, is to subscribe to email updates here.

+ How long has Marie been doing this? How does it affect her?

Marie has been talking all night in her sleep in different languages since her teenage years, according to friends. About ten years ago she learned to negotiate with the beings to be able to control her channeling. How this happened is described in the novel.

Now Marie (and Nerida, who participates in the conversations) is able to choose when the channeling occurs and request that the beings speak English.

The stories of how Marie learned to channel and the first time Nerida met Aedgar (and then the others) through Marie are in the upcoming book. Trying to maintain some kind of normal life while Nerida's worldview totally changed led to conflict and tension. Marie felt left behind. Sometimes she wondered whether Nerida liked Aedgar and the others better than her or whether Nerida only stayed with her because of her strange, compelling ability.

Please subscribe to our email list to be among the first to hear about pre-publication and to gain access to special offers at the time of the book launch.

+ Can the beings speak other languages?

They could but they can not, they say, because of the limitations of the facilitator, Nerida. Nerida is Marie’s amanuensis and facilitator and she only speks English with sufficient fluency. So they only speak in English.

+ Do you have an email list?

Yes. Please send us a note on the Contact page so that we can keep you posted about the conversations, the e-books, gatherings and more. Join us on this fascinating journey.

+ What will you do with my email?

You will get a fortnightly update from us and an occasional announcement. Being on our email list is the best way to know when a new text is uploaded. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Your email will not be sold and we will not spam you. We do not do affiliate marketing.

+ What kind of doctor is Dr Trees? Does she channel?

I am a medical doctor. If you’d like to get to know me, please visit my fortnightly blog Xylem Flow and Facebook page. I am not a channel or medium. I've created, 'transcribed' (if you will) the material for the conversations in the process of writing my book.

For the record, I don't agree with everything Marie channels or with all of Nerida's attitudes. That makes writing the book more interesting.

Sometimes Nerida strongly disagrees with what the beings say, too. But she finds the material compelling enough to keep engaging with the beings.

Nerida finds that she changes profoundly as she fears losing her scientific knowledge and credibility. The experience of talking with the beings shakes her, and her relationship with Marie, profoundly.

Nerida's view of the world is smashed up by these psychic, metaphysical experiences with the woman she loves. She is not sure what the world will look like to her, and what her role in the world will be, if she continues to have these strange, otherworldly conversations. She is not sure if their relationship can survive the strange and relentless change they are each experiencing.

+ Is this real? It reads like a Kurt Vonnegut novel (or a Twilight Zone script or Carlos Castenada).

The upcoming book is fiction. If it helps you to consider this a surrealist experiment, please do so.

+ Can we get recordings or videos of Marie channeling on the website please?

No. Marie is ficticious. But we're working on providing more resources for committed readers. Please join our email list by completing the form on the Contact page so that we can update you. We plan a regular podcast, allowing one of the channeled beings to send a recorded message to our audience.

+ Is there anything Nerida can’t ask Aedgar about?

To Nerida's disappointment, the beings won’t do lottery numbers. Having studied Law of Attraction, she hoped that she and Marie would get rich, once Marie started channeling. That didn't happen.

Aedgar has said that there are aspects of his lives on earth which were private and will remain so. They say that they won't tell a person the colour of their soulmate’s eyes or go hunting between dimensions for missing objects or people. They are always chary about giving a timeframe for their predictions, saying, 'We are not good at 'time'. Their predictions are based on the potential they see in the moment, so there is always choice involved in how events unfold.

Asking anything else is permitted. Nerida (and others who appear in these conversations) are creative interviewers. Regardless of the topic, the conversations are generally warm, friendly and heartfelt.

There is a quality of love in the atmosphere when the beings are permitted to come through, which is difficult to convey in words.

+ Who is or was Aiden?

Aiden was the love of Aedgar’s life, in two of his lives, actually.

They were both men. Aedgar and Aiden chose to incarnate in Bristol, England for a second lifetime after experiencing true love together there. In their second lifetimes they were contemporaries of Henry VIII.

Some of the most moving and exquisite passages in the material are Aedgar’s memories of and allusions to his dear Aiden.

+ Is this religious? Is it anti-religious?

The existence of a spirit or soul has long been associated with religion. Science separates itself from religion by denying the existence of any kind of eternal soul or spirit in living things.

Marie and Nerida were both atheists since youth. Channeling with Marie is not a religious experience and does not follow any religious formats or rituals.

Words such as spirit and soul are used to speak of channeling; but all the characters are aware of the religious connotations of the words, ‘spirit’ and ‘soul.’ Those words are used for lack of better ones in English, since Aedgar and the other friends exist and communicate without physical bodies of their own.

The beings are all tolerant and kind--and will tell, each in their own way, that religions are man-made and often misused.

+ Is this available in other languages? Can I translate the book for you?

As written above, the book text is still being finalised. Translating this material is challenging. At the moment, we are working with a professional English to German translator with an excellent knowledge of channeling and metaphysical concepts.

We appreciate multilingual readers who are keen to see the material distributed as widely as possible. If you would like to translate, please get in touch.

+ I have more questions. What’s the best way to get in touch with you?

You can email Dr Trees at mail@aedgar.com or fill out the form on the Contact page. All correspondence is confidential.